Japanese police and defense agencies said Thursday their Web sites had come under attack from suspected Chinese hackers as bilateral tensions escalated.
Access was blocked to the National Police Agency's site from late Wednesday till early morning Thursday, Channel NewsAsia reported.
At least one Chinese Web site had called on Chinese patriots to jam Japanese servers. Cyber wars initiated in China are common whenever diplomatic tensions arise.
Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry press secretary spoke out against official Chinese statements suggesting that responsibility for last weekend's anti-Japan violence and demonstrations in China lay with Tokyo.
Acts of violence "cannot be justified for any reason whatsoever in the international community today," Hatsuhisa Takashima said in a statement.
"The Chinese government is obliged under international law to take responsibility to ensure the life and safety of foreigners, guarantee the legal activities of foreign enterprises and protect diplomatic missions," he said.
The ministry has requested an apology from China and compensation for damage to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
